


Comfort

by canthelpmyselves



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2018-09-12
Packaged: 2019-07-11 12:51:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15972671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canthelpmyselves/pseuds/canthelpmyselves
Summary: Len is not impressed with how Barry's team treats him.





	Comfort

“Hello, Barry.”

The young man tensed and closed his eyes in a silent plea to whatever deities he could think of for this to be a hallucination. He opened them a second later and looked over to find Leonard Snart smirking at him. “Snart,” he bit out warily. 

Len’s eyes trailed up and down Barry’s body with amusement. “Looking… hmm. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look so... shiny,” he mused.

Barry’s shoulders drooped and he sighed heavily. “Are you stealing something?”

Len quirked an eyebrow at him and lifted a plastic bag bearing the logo for a local deli. Barry’s shoulders relaxed and he turned away, heading down the sidewalk. He hadn’t gone more than ten feet before Len was beside him, keeping pace. Barry stopped walking, as did his nemesis.

“Are you following me?” he asked. If it sounded a little more like a whine than a demand, he could be forgiven seeing as he was exhausted.

Len gave a low chuckle. “No.”

Barry eyed him warily as he motioned for him to move along. Len just smirked wider, not moving. Barry huffed. “Move along, then,” he suggested. 

“Why, Barry,” Len drawled, “if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you didn’t trust me.”

“I don’t,” Barry snapped. “Look, I don’t want to fight tonight. I don’t want to argue. I just want to get home and wash this stuff off of me. So, you go wherever it is you need to go, and leave me be, okay?”

Len tilted his head as he studied Barry under the street light’s glow. “Not even a hint as to how you got like this?” he asked with amusement.

Barry’s head dropped back in frustration. “Just a prank,” he finally mumbled. “Someone at work thought it would be funny to dump aluminum powder on the lab rat. Go ahead and laugh. Ha ha, right?” He didn’t wait for an answer, just tapped into the speed force and zipped himself home, despite the way the powder heated up from the friction and burned his skin.

***

On occasion Len would go out in disguise. It made it easier for him to case places. So, he changed his body shape by wearing two bulky sweaters and slouching his shoulders. Thick glasses and a ballcap concealed his face and added several years to his looks. After eight hours of studying the routines of the guards at First Federal Bank of Central, he headed to Jitters for a cup of iced coffee. He found a table near the back and got comfortable, only tensing when he spotted the pretty-boy cop and Scarlet’s foster sister.

“I thought Barry was joining us,” Thawne said curiously as they sat down.

The sister (was it Rose? Lily?) giggled. “He’s still pouting like a baby.”

Thawne looked a bit uncomfortable. “Iris, it’s not that funny,” he said, sounding awkward.

Iris snorted. “Come on, Eddie! It was hilarious! And as soon as Barry gets over being embarrassed, he’ll laugh, too.”

Eddie didn’t look convinced to Len. “I just think it’s kind of mean,” he objected hesitantly. “Barry risks a lot when he goes out there. Some of those hits left him pretty injured. I just think it was kind of mean to post a video on youtube.”

Iris waved a hand in the air. “It was all in good fun,” she said dismissively. “Barry heals quickly. If he really didn’t like it, he would have asked Cisco to take it down.”

“Um, he did,” Eddie reminded her.

Iris shook her head. “Oh, he didn’t mean it. I can tell. I’ve known Barry forever. He was just surprised. It’s pretty popular.”

Len stood and headed to the exit. As soon as he was back in his safe house, he did a quick search and found the video. It already had over 200,000 hits. Most of the clips were from security cameras. The audio was a bunch of prat fall sound effects. 

When it was over (all six minutes and eighteen seconds) Len sat back in his chair and thought hard about what he had heard and seen. To be honest, he would never have expected Barry’s own team capable of that type of humiliation. And for his own sister to think he was being a baby about it? He sighed heavily as a protective urge washed over him. How sad was it that his nemesis was more concerned than his own family was?

***

Len stared out at the street and counted off seconds in his head. He expected Scarlet seventeen seconds ago, based on past experience. Mick was getting fidgety beside him. Lisa and Shawna were already gone, probably even enjoying a glass of wine by now. Len perked up as he finally spotted the streak of red lightning heading their way. “Incoming,” he drawled, hiding his excitement at the chance to banter with Barry.

Mick perked up and powered up his gun. As soon as Scarlet was through the door, a stream of fire was trailing in his wake. Len grinned and raised his own gun, carefully calculating where Barry would stop. The instant the speedster hit the brakes, he pulled the trigger, freezing Scarlet’s feet together.

Mick chuckled loudly as Scarlet tumbled head over heels into a wall. Len cringed slightly at the hole left in the drywall, but shouldered the gun and stepped forward. “You’re a little _snow_ tonight,” he quipped. He waited a couple of seconds for Barry’s retort, but the younger man only closed his eyes and exhaled shakily.

“You’re not giving me the cold shoulder, are you Red?”

Barry shifted until he was sitting upright and began vibrating his hands to break off the ice around his ankles and calves. Len brought his gun down, aiming for Barry’s feet. As soon as the kid moved his hands out of the way, he intended to fire again. 

Barry didn’t give him a chance. As soon as his feet were separated, yet still coated in ice, the kid was gone. He sped out of the bank and disappeared around the corner. Mick walked over to stand beside him, looking annoyed. 

“He left?” the pyro asked.

Len shoved his gun into it’s holster and crossed his arms. “Apparently,” he growled. “Let’s get out of here before the cops show up.”

They could hear sirens in the distance, so they grabbed the rest of the loot and ran for their bikes. 

***

Len looked up as the door to the safe house slammed open and Mick stomped inside. He raised one eyebrow in question as Hartley and Mardon followed, looking just as pissed off. “Thought you three were going out for drinks,” he drawled.

Mardon plopped down on the kitchen chair across from Len while Mick went to the fridge for beers. Hartley just paced back and forth between the kitchen doorway and the sink. Mick popped the top off his beer as he handed one to Mardon. He sat down on the last chair and drummed his fingers on the table.

“You remember the CSI that proved I didn’t off Greenwood?” Mardon asked. 

Len glanced at Mick and Hartley quickly. He knew they both knew Barry Allen was the Flash. Mick had found out on the Waverider, and Hartley had worked with Team Flash against some sort of dementor thing. As far as he knew, Mardon had no idea Barry and the Flash were one and the same. “Allen, right?”

Mardon nodded. “Saw him tonight. He was with some friends at the bar.” Mardon paused to take a drink. “Well, associates. Definitely not friends.”

Len leaned back in his chair, eyeing Mardon carefully. “Oh?”

Hartley stopped pacing. “We were at the bar and he came up to order drinks. He didn’t notice we were close by. Anyway, this guy began flirting with him, and he started flirting back. Nothing heavy, but you could tell he was interested.”

Mick swallowed another drink and took up the story. “Then one of the girls, the half-sister or something, walked over and began poking fun.”

“Poking fun?” Len questioned. He would think more on the flirting-with-a-guy thing later, he promised himself.

“The guy was asking Allen if he wanted to dance and she started to laugh. Said he was asking for trouble because Allen was ‘clumsy as a baby giraffe’,” Hartley said, using his fingers to make air quotes.

Mark nodded. “When Allen turned red she pinched his cheek and said, really loudly, ‘it’s so cute!’. Then she turned back to the guy, smiled and said ‘you wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve watched him tripped over his own two feet.’ I’ve never seen anyone that humiliated. She hadn’t even finished talking before he turned and left the bar.”

“We followed when Ramon went out after him,” Hartley sneered. “We got to listen to him try and tell Barry that he was being too sensitive. That Miss West was just tipsy and trying to point out how cute he is.”

“He sped off without answering,” Mark finished. Len tensed, eyeing Mark warily. Mark simply rolled his eyes. “What? You think I wouldn’t recognize those eyes out of the suit? He may be my enemy as the Flash, but the kid didn’t let the DA or the cops railroad me over something I didn’t do. Doesn’t change how I feel about West. He killed my brother and if I ever get the chance, I’ll return the favor, but Allen’s different.”

“I thought they were the good guys,” Mick grumbled. “Good guys don’t humiliate one another.”

Len sighed and dragged a hand down his face. And people thought them cold-hearted.

***

“Please tell me you’re not here to steal something.”

Len smirked and glanced at Barry from the corner of his eye. “Can’t I just be enjoying a day out at a museum?”

Barry sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You know what? I don’t care. Just don’t make a scene, okay?”

Len watched the younger man walk off with surprise. Did Scarlet just give him permission to steal as long as he kept it on the down low? Curious as to what was going on with the beloved hero of Central, Len abandoned his casing of the museum and began following Barry. 

It wasn’t long before he joined his foster sister and foster brother, along with a pretty little brunette girl. Len kept back far enough not to attract attention but close enough to hear them as they wandered through the Egyptian displays. 

“Some of this is familiar but there’s a lot of differences, too. Like that piece,” the unknown girl said, pointing to a slab with hieroglyphics. “The symbols are different than what I have seen before.”

Barry smiled and moved a little closer to it. “It’s a recipe,” he told her. “It explains which herbs to add to wines to give them added health benefits and preserve them better. Archaeologists have even discovered stashes of wine jugs with the residue from some of these wines. Some had figs added, which flavored the wine and helped it ferment better. Some had...”

“And he’s off,” Wally loudly whispered to his sister, who giggled loudly.

Len watched as Barry’s mouth snapped shut and a blush crept up his cheeks. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

Iris patted his arm and shook her head with a smile. “We’re used to it, Barr.”

They began walking again, this time with Barry trailing slightly behind, hands in his pockets. They left the Egyptian wing and were heading toward the Earth and Space Hall when Len sped up, linked his arm with Barry’s and pulled him away. Barry tensed and opened his mouth to protest but Len held tight and practically dragged Barry toward the Arctic Gallery. Once inside he slowed down and began looking at the first display which featured a couple of Eskimos fishing.

“What are you doing?” Barry hissed.

“Enjoying the museum,” Len reminded him. “What do you think? Is my coat warmer than theirs?”

Barry stared at him with confusion and a little bit of exasperation. “What?”

Len pointed to the fur clothing on the mannequins. “My parka,” he clarified. “It’s probably warmer than theirs. More fashionable, too.”

“Did you really drag me in here to point out that your man-made parka is likely to be warmer than pieced together animal skins?” he asked incredulously. 

Len looked at him carefully. “No. I brought you in here because I want you to enjoy the museum.”

“Of course I’m enjoying the museum,” Barry said stubbornly. “I’m a nerd! Museums are my candyland!”

“You’ll enjoy it more with me than you would with your family.”

“Why on earth would I enjoy anything with you?” Barry growled.

“Because I like hearing you talk,” Len admitted gently. “I won’t shut you down or tease you about your enthusiasm.”

Barry froze up and a blush began creeping up his neck, again. 

Len hated the discomfort and humiliation in Scarlet’s eyes. It made him want to do really bad things to everyone who ever put that look there. Including himself. He gave Barry’s arm a little tug. “Come on. Enjoy the museum with me. For once, forget about alter egos and appearances. We’re just Len and Barry today.”

Len watched as Barry slowly began to relax. After half a minute he gave a shy smile and nodded. Len smiled as they began to make their way through the exhibits. At the second one, Barry began to loosen up enough to point out some things he had learned from previous visits. 

They toured the Arctic Gallery, Safari Hall, the Prehistoric Flora exhibit and were slowly making their way through the Aztec displays when Barry’s phone chimed. He reluctantly pulled it out and sighed. “Iris noticed I’m not with them. She says I should meet them in the gift shop.”

Len studied Barry closely. “Do you want to?” he asked. It didn’t escape his notice that his family hadn’t realized Barry wasn’t with them for almost two hours.

Barry shrugged. “I should go. They’re my family and they’re expecting me.”

Len reached over and placed his hand over Barry’s phone. “Do you want to?” he repeated.

Barry blushed slightly and shook his head. “No.”

Len smiled sincerely. “Then how about we go get something to eat? My treat.”

Barry looked at Len, a small frown making his forehead wrinkle. After a few seconds he quickly typed out a message and hit send before putting his phone away. “I know a great Thai place down the street.”

Len slung an arm around Barry’s waist and nodded. “Archa 9?” he asked.

Barry nodded enthusiastically. “You’ve been?”

Len smirked. “I’m a regular, Scarlet.”

They left the museum and walked down the street in silence. Once inside, they were quickly seated and given menus. Len scanned his briefly and set it aside. He noticed that Barry barely even looked at his. Instead, he was biting his bottom lip and looking everywhere but at Len.

“Problem?” he asked cautiously.

Barry sighed and looked at Len shyly. “Is... is this a date?” he mumbled.

Len tilted his head as he studied Barry. Deciding to go for broke he nodded. “Yes.”

A light blush crept up Barry’s neck and cheeks. “Oh.”

“Does that bother you?” Len asked.

Barry bit his bottom lip before reaching across the table and linking their hands together. “Actually, no,” he said, sounding a bit more relaxed. “A date with Len sounds pretty nice.”

Len smiled and gave Barry’s hand a squeeze. “A date with Barry sounds pretty good to me, as well.”


End file.
